Lois goes viral

[jkcarrier]

Lois Lane discovers the down-side of celebrity...
"The Superman-Lois Hit Record!" Lois Lane #45, 1963
(select panels from an 8-page story)




(Were hillbilly parties a "thing" back in the '60s?)
Lois decides to seek out "Don Weeder", the comedian who made the record, to give him a piece of her mind. However...



In case you can't read the inscriptions:
"Much enjoyed your good-natured spoof! -JFK"
"Never was one statesman beset by so many stinging gags! - Regards, Winston C."
"Ha, Ha. Loved the 'shoe bit' - K"

Lois decides to try and be a good sport. After all, it'll probably blow over in a couple days, right?

As if! In fact, the record becomes a monster hit, and soon Lois is hearing it everywhere she goes. She gets so fed up, she starts wearing earplugs when she goes out in public. Which leads to her almost getting run over while crossing the street. Luckily, Superman is on hand to save her.



To make matters worse, Weeder decides to make a sequel, showing what Superman and Lois' married life would be like.



Superman tries to console her, which goes about as well as you'd expect.



Lois attends a taping of the Steve Allen Show in Hollywood, hoping to hear someone else getting laughed at for a change. Oddly, Steve's guest-host is none other than Clark Kent. Clark says that Superman asked him to play a record...Lois is afraid it'll be THAT record, but it turns out to be something else:



I'm not sure a recording of her blowing her top and smacking Superman upside the head is really going to improve her reputation. But she seems satisfied, anyway.

Later, Clark "speculates" that Superman was able to record the conversation after-the-fact with a device that could capture the light and sounds waves that were still bouncing around in outer space. Silver Age science, ladies and gentlemen.



The irony, of course, is that Weeder had it exactly right in the first place...she IS obsessed with marrying Superman.

Comments

[jaybee3]

I gather "Don Weeder" is supposed to be a take-off on Vaughn Meader, the JFK soundalike who was quite successful until JFK was shot? Boy, does the comic date itself.

And Superman actually thinking the obvious to HIMSELF "No one realizes I'm Superman".

This Silver Age version of Lois actually made me think what her dating life was like since she was so obviously hung up on Superman (who practiced Super-Dickery to avoid her) and the whole world knew it.

[blackruzsa]

Hahah, wow, I don't know what offended me more, the radio show or the "hillbilly party".

Still, I think the last bit was fine. I mean, reputation or not, it showed that Lois wasn't some pushover who'd fall all over Superman and act like the typical idea of the 60s housewife.

[superfangirl1]

I thought for a moment this was some plot to teach lois a lesson. The ending was sweet.

[icon_uk]

The host of the hillbilly party is more than a bit of an asshole, since he'd have to know Lois was attending the party and might be put out.

[bradygirl_12]

I love this story! The Vaughn Meader take-off is a nice contemporary nod (for the comic, of course, since it's now more historical) of that hit record of the Kennedys. Maybe JFK hated it, for all I know, but the guy was self-deprecating in his press conferences so I'm betting he was amused by it.

People always think of Silver Age Lois has hopelessly besotted with Superman, and she often is, but there are times when she tells him off like in this story. And despite the stereotypical chasing after him, she still had a career as a star reporter who chased stories as much as the Man of Steel. Most women back in the early '60s who were reporters were relegated to fashion, society, or garden shows. Lois was one of the two top reporters of The Daily Planet and could arguably be crowned the better of the two, though even without powers I'm betting Clark could be at the top of his game. He's already a excellent writer without help of superpowers.

Wonderful historical snapshot! :)

[bradygirl_12]

Oh, about the 'hillbilly party'? Apparently from the early '50s on to about the early '60s hillbilly culture was a pretty strong fad. I've watched some old movies in which the fad is pretty obvious (the Ma & Pa Kettle movies were popular during this time). There were hillbilly singers and nightclubs in New York with the theme. Not sure why it was so popular, but then, all fads are pretty much unexplainable, aren't they? :)

[skjam]

Yes, "hillbilly parties" were a thing back then, mostly inspired by the popularity of "L'il Abner" and its Sadie Hawkins Day.